The Wisdom of Judaism

Dov Peretz Elkins

Description

Discover the Talmud and its universal values for all people. While the Hebrew Bible is the cornerstone of Judaism, it is the Talmud that provides many central values for living. The Talmud sets out specific guidelines and lyrical admonitions regarding many of life's ordinary events, and offers profound words of advice for life’s most intractable dilemmas. This accessible introduction to the Talmud explores the essence of Judaism through reflections on the words of the rabbinic sages, from one of American Judaism’s foremost teachers and writers, Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins. Dr. Elkins provides fresh insight into ancient aphorisms and shows you how they can be applied to your life today. Topics include: Kindness through Giving, Welcoming and Sharing; Human Relationships; Personal Values; Family Values; Teaching and Learning; and Life’s Puzzles. Enlightening and inspiring, the values of the Talmud can be appreciated not just by Jews, but by anyone seeking a greater understanding of life and its mysteries.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Jewish history
• Hebrew Bible
• Judaism
• Religion
• Talmud

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 24 juin 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781580234771
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Wisdom of Judaism:
An Introduction to the Values of the Talmud
2007 Second Printing
2007 First Printing
2007 by Dov Peretz Elkins
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information regarding permission to reprint material from this book, please mail or fax your request in writing to Jewish Lights Publishing, Permissions Department, at the address / fax number listed below, or e-mail your request to [e-mail] .
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Elkins, Dov Peretz.
The wisdom of Judaism: an introduction to the values of the Talmud / Dov Peretz Elkins.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-58023-327-9 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 1-58023-327-9 (pbk.)
1. Talmud-Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Jewish way of life. 3. Jewish ethics. I. Title.
BM504.E63 2007
296.1'206-dc22
2006103352
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Cover design: Tim Holtz
Cover art: S-166, Maze-VIII of S.O.M. Suite, 1983 original color serigraph by Shraga Weil. Published by the Safrai Fine Art Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel. Copyright Safrai Gallery.
Manufactured in Canada
Published by Jewish Lights Publishing
A Division of LongHill Partners, Inc.
Sunset Farm Offices, Route 4, P.O. Box 237
Woodstock, VT 05091
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
www.jewishlights.com
To Our Children ,
Hillel and Rachel
Jon and Rachel
Shira and Dany
Jamie and Abby
Yoni
Pesach

Children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb a reward.
Psalm 127:3
C ONTENTS

Acknowledgments
I NTRODUCTION : The Talmud-A Conversation Between the Generations
Part I
Kindness through Giving, Welcoming, and Sharing
The Essence of Religion
Charity Is Better Than Sacrifice
Hospitality to the Needy
Tzedakah Must Come with Caring
Stronger Than Death
Finding a Good Heart
Three Important Jewish Values
Love Peace and Pursue Peace
Embarrassing Others
Sensitivity to Others
Kindness to Animals
Part II
Human Relationships: Treating Others Fairly, Openly, and Lovingly
Moderation
Turning an Enemy into a Friend
Community
What Is Jewish Conversation?
Equality of All God s Children
Personal Growth
The Dangers of Projection
Feedback
Private Morality
The Golden Rule
Part III
Personal Values through Humility, Awareness, and Dignity
The Power of Peace
Community
Fairness in Judgment
Humility
Choose to Be Persecuted Rather Than Persecute Another
Flexibility
Living in the Now
Self-Reliance and Human Dignity
The Value of Physical Labor
Part IV
Family Values: Living Respectfully with Mates, Children, and Parents
Marriage
Caring for Your Spouse
Honoring Parents
Finances and Family
Influence of the Home
Choosing a Life Partner
Companionship
The Generation Gap
Unconditional Love
Part V
Teaching and Learning: Methods, Goals, and Results
Knowledge Gained and Lost
Learning by Teaching
Wherein Lies Security?
Our Children, Our Future
The Dangers of Ignorance
A Little Learning Is a Dangerous Thing
Rationality or Spirituality?
Wisdom Is Innate
Part VI
Life s Puzzles: A Potpourri of Solutions to Everyday Problems
Defining Miracles
Effort Versus Reward
Quantity or Quality?
God Desires Heart
Greed
Does a Sin Contaminate a Scholar?
Jewish Sovereignty
Admitting Ignorance
Be a Believer, but Also Be a Humanist
Suggestions for Further Reading
About Jewish Lights
Copyright
The final goal of wisdom is to turn to God and to do good works.
Menahot 110a

The object of study is to teach true values and sound judgment.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is the third book I have edited or authored that Jewish Lights has published. In each case I have had the stellar cooperation, support, and wise guidance of many people, especially Stuart M. Matlins, the visionary publisher of American Judaism today; Emily Wichland, the talented and most helpful vice president for editorial and production; and Lauren Seidman, senior project editor, whose daily e-mails I will miss when the book is finally finished. They are an unbeatable team, and it is a great pleasure to work with each and all of them.
I also want to offer thanks to the following people who made useful suggestions to improve the brief introductory essay on the Talmud: Professor Raymond Scheindlin, Rabbi Charles Kraus, Rabbi Shamai Kanter, Rabbi Steven Saltzman, and especially my son Jonathan Elkins.
I NTRODUCTION

The Talmud-A Conversation Between Generations
Jewish literature is a conversation between generations. That s how a non-Jewish New York Times reporter described it when he interviewed my late professor, Rabbi Saul Lieberman, of blessed memory, and gazed at the massive collection of books on his shelves.
What is that book? asked the reporter.
It s a commentary on the Bible.
What s that book? asked the reporter, pointing to another large tome on a different shelf.
That s a commentary on the other commentary.
The conversation continued with six or seven questions and answers until the reporter realized that almost every book ever written in Judaism, from the Torah to the present day, is a commentary on another book.
Aha! exclaimed the reporter. I see. In other words, Judaism is a conversation between the generations.
Because the heritage of the Jewish people includes a dynamic, ever growing, ever adapting body of literature, it almost seems as if each generation is holding an ongoing conversation with its predecessors. Each scholar, looking for answers to the unending questions that life presents all humans, searches for ideas in the stream of writings that came before. Then that scholar adds another volume. So Judaism indeed becomes a conversation between generations.
The Core Literature of the Jewish People
It started with the basic work, the covenant book, which, according to Jewish tradition, was given to Moses at Mount Sinai. The Torah, as it is known, contains five books-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Torah (or Pentateuch, which is Greek for five books ) is the divine source of all the other books that have since followed.
The Torah, the sacred anthology of cosmology, history, folklore, law, poetry, and genealogy, is the bedrock of all Jewish values, rituals, holidays and ideals. It covers the history of the nation of Israel from the first Jews, Abraham and Sarah, of eighteenth century BCE, all the way down to the second century BCE-about sixteen hundred years. When the last prophets uttered their divinely ordained thoughts, the Tanakh (the acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew Bible: Torah, N vi im [Prophets], and Ketuvim [Writings]) was canonized, or sealed, once and for all. Nothing more could be added or subtracted.
Like every book of law, customs, norms, and ideals, the Tanakh had to be interpreted, explained, and updated in every generation. When the holy Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed-first by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and again by the Romans in 70 CE-the political and spiritual reins of the Jewish people shifted from priests and prophets to rabbis (teachers). The book of laws and teachings (the Torah) was given. The task now was to teach and interpret it, and to bring it up to date. Enter the Talmud.
Enter the Talmud
The Talmud, and its contemporary companion, the Midrash, were originally oral discussions that brought to bear the legal and homiletical interpretations of the postbiblical Rabbis, whose goal was to help their people make the Torah a more usable and understandable document. The first step in the creation of what is known as rabbinic literature was the Mishnah, compiled and edited by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the head of the Sanhedrin (the legislative and judicial body in postbiblical times), in the year 200 CE.
By putting the Mishnah in writing, Rabbi Yehudah did something radical. Knowing that the passing of time would make it difficult for the people to remember all the continuing discussions of each generation, he set down on parchment, or perhaps papyrus, what was intended to be oral information passed from one generation to the next. He divided the laws of rabbinic Judaism into six orders and sixty-three tractates (approximately twelve or thirteen tractates per order).
Since the Torah and the comments on it were a scattered, disorganized collection of history, law, and lore, one of the great achievements of Rabbi Yehudah was to organize the material into themes. Thus, the Mishnah is divided into books about the various holidays, agricultural laws of ancient Palestine, civil and criminal law, issues between the sexes (such as marriage and divorce), sacrifices, and laws of purity.
Naturally, the process of expansion, explanation, and interpretation did not cease with the creation of the Mishnah. In the third century CE, a new group of rabbis began to discuss the passages in the Mishnah in a freewheeling, stream-of-consciousness dialogue that ultimately became the Gemara, which was edited in approximately the year 500 CE.
In common parlance, the Mishnah and the Gemara together are known as the Talmud. (There are two Talmuds: the Jerusalem Talmud, edited in approximately the year 400 CE, and the more comprehensive Babylonian Talmud, edited in approximately 500 CE, which is the one most people are referring to when they simply say the Talmud without qualification.) A page in a printed copy of the Talmud today contains a passage of the Mishnah followed by long, often disorganized debates and deliberations on the implications and conclusions derived from the Mishnaic passage. On the top, bottom, and sides of each page are many other commentaries written by later sages. Thus, a conversation between the generations.
Deep within the sea of the Talmud are exp